Latest news with #NateOats
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Alabama basketball to add marquee opponent, venue to 2025 nonconference schedule: report
Alabama basketball will reportedly head to The World's Most Famous Arena in 2025. According to a report Thursday from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Nate Oats' Crimson Tide are finalizing an agreement with St. John's and legendary coach Rick Pitino to play at Madison Square Garden in New York. It will mark the first time an Alabama team has played at 'The Mecca' since 2013. Advertisement The game will reportedly take place on November 8, with St. John's expected to play Alabama in the 2026-27 season at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. St. John's joins an already expansive list of nonconference opponents Alabama is set to face in the 2025-26 season. Oats already has games scheduled against the Illinois Fighting Illini in Chicago, North Dakota and Yale at Coleman Coliseum, and the Arizona Wildcats in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide will also make another trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival and face an ACC school in the annual SEC-ACC Challenge. St. John's went 31-5 overall last season and won the both the Big East Tournament and Big East regular season championship. They were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and were bounced in a second-round upset by John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks. The Johnnies are a popular team in many way-too-early rankings ahead of 2025-26. Fox Sports recently ranked St. John's No. 2 in its early top 25, while ESPN's Jeff Borzello had them at No. 3 in his new rankings on Monday. Advertisement Alabama finished 28-9 last season and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, falling 85-65 to Duke in the East Region final in Newark. The Crimson Tide were ranked No. 6 in the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, while St. John's was ranked No. 10. The meeting between Alabama and St. John's will be the first between the two programs in over 40 years. They last met in the 1982 NCAA Tournament at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island with two legendary coaches squaring off. Wimp Sanderson's Crimson Tide defeated Lou Carnesecca's team, 69-68. All-time, Alabama and St. John's have met four times on the hardwood dating back to 1955. The head-to-head series is split 2-2. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama basketball to face Big East power at MSG in 2025, per report
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Report: Alabama, St. John's basketball finalizing home-and-home series
Nate Oats appears to have landed another early-season non-conference test for Alabama basketball, and it comes with a trip to The Big Apple. According to CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein, Alabama and St. John's are finalizing a home-and-home series against each other. The series would start this upcoming 2025-26 college basketball season on Nov. 8 at Madison Square Garden, with the return game taking place in Birmingham during the 2026-27 season. Advertisement Alabama's NIL collective, Yea Alabama, confirmed Rothstein's reporting on its X account (formerly Twitter) that the Crimson Tide and Red Storm were working on scheduling a game at The World's Most Famous Arena. REQUIRED READING: Nick Saban expected to join President Donald Trump's commission on college athletics: Reports Scheduling a team like St. John's, which was ranked as high as No. 5 in the country last season and earned a No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament last season, is not something new for Oats nor is the decision of scheduling the game right out of the gate, as these caliber-level games serve as early tests for SEC play and March Madness. Advertisement "Alabama men's basketball is working towards scheduling a game with St. John's in Madison Square Garden in November," Yea Alabama wrote on X. In recent years, Oats has scheduled marquee non-conference games against Houston, Gonzaga, Creighton, Illinois, Memphis and Arizona, among others. Last year, Oats and Alabama faced Houston, Rutgers and Oregon in The Players Era Festival, an NIL-driven multi-team event in Las Vegas that they will compete in again this year. November's expected game between Alabama and St. John's will be the first head-to-head meeting between Oats and St. John's Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino since the 2021 ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Florida, when Pitino was then at Iona. The two also coached against each other in the first round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. Both the Crimson Tide and Red Storm have utilized the transfer portal this season to reshape their rosters from last season. St. John's has landed North Carolina guard Ian Jackson, Cincinnati forward Dillon Mitchell, Providence forward Bryce Hopkins, Arizona State guard Joson Sanon and Stanford guard Oziyah Sellers, giving Pitino what many college basketball analysts believe will be one of the top rosters, if not the top roster in the country this season. Advertisement As noted by the Tuscaloosa News, Oats has retooled last year's Elite Eight team with four players from the transfer portal. The Crimson Tide most recently landed Tarleton State 6-foot-8 forward Keitenn Bristow in the portal on April 30. Alabama finished 28-9 overall and 13-5 in SEC play last season. This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alabama, St. John's basketball finalizing non-conference series, report
USA Today
30-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicts Alabama in debut 2025-26 'Bracketology'
Where ESPN's Joe Lunardi predicts Alabama in debut 2025-26 'Bracketology' During the 2024-25 season, the Alabama Crimson Tide made a NCAA Tournament appearance for the fifth-straight year, while also reaching the Elite Eight for the second consecutive campaign under head coach Nate Oats. As the Crimson Tide now begin to look ahead to next season, Alabama is tasked with replacing a significant amount of production that includes essentially their entire starting lineup, as well as many prominent bench options. In this group are names such as Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi, along with many others. So far this offseason however, Alabama has certainly been active in the transfer portal to help address some of the needs facing the roster, bringing in four players at the moment in Noah Williamson, Taylor Bol Bowen, Jalil Bethea, and Keitenn Bristow. In addition to this group, Alabama also has four players returning next season in Aden Holloway, Latrell Wrightsell Jr., Aiden Sherrell, and Houston Mallette, and will also add the nation's No. 13 recruiting class to that group. So, when taking a look at the names alone, it's clear that Alabama should have a talented team once again, one that could end up being among the best in the SEC next season. However, when it comes to the NCAA Tournament, just where do the Crimson Tide currently project? Well, according to the debut edition of 2025-25 "Bracketology" according to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, Alabama projects as a No. 6 seed in the East Region facing off against No. 11 seeded Memphis in San Diego for the first round. The Crimson Tide are also one of 13 SEC teams included. Yes, it is still a long way away from the 2025-25 college basketball season, but it already appears that Alabama may end up dancing into March once again next year. Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Alabama Dealt Major Transfer Portal News After NCAA Tournament Loss
Nate Oats has turned to the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball program into an SEC powerhouse over the past several years. Alabama, led by Mark Sears and Grant Nelson, entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed in the East region, looking to make a run at the national championship. Advertisement While the Crimson Tide were successful in the early rounds, defeating Robert Morris, Saint Mary's and BYU, they ultimately lost to the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight. Following the brutal loss for Oats and company, they picked up a massive commitment from 7-foot center Noah Williamson, per Joe Tipton. Williamson will be transferring to Alabama after three seasons at Bucknell. This past season, Williamson averaged 17.6 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game. The Patriot League Player of the Year capped off his career at Bucknell averaging 12.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game. Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats and guard Mark Sears© Jeff Lange / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Crimson Tide picked up a major commitment from one of the most highly coveted transfers in college basketball as they head into the post-Mark Sears era. Advertisement Sears and Nelson have been leading Alabama throughout the past few years, most notably during back-to-back runs in the NCAA Tournament, but Williamson will now have a major role in filling those shoes. Related: Arkansas' John Calipari Dealt Unfortunate Transfer Portal News Related: Ole Miss Makes Major Chris Beard Announcement Amid NCAA Tournament
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rematch set for Alabama basketball vs Purdue in 2025: What day is the game?
Another date has been set for Alabama basketball's 2025-26 schedule. Yea Alabama, the university's NIL collective, announced that the Crimson Tide will host Purdue in Coleman Coliseum for a Thursday showdown on Nov. 13. Advertisement The news was later confirmed in a post to X by the Purdue men's basketball account, who teased "a top-10 showdown early in the season" with guard Braden Smith's deciding to return for his senior year after seeing the Boilermakers to the Sweet 16 for a fateful meeting against Houston. REQUIRED READING: Can Nate Oats make Alabama a basketball school? Or does football loom too large? LOOKING AHEAD! C.M. Newton Classic will return in 2025: Who will Alabama basketball play? What to know Date officially set for Alabama basketball vs. Purdue The game will be the second part of a home-and-home series, following up the Boilermakers' 87-78 defeat of Alabama last November to give Nate Oats and company their first loss on the road to the Elite Eight. Advertisement Another confirmed matchup on Alabama's non-conference schedule for the upcoming year includes Arizona, who will meet UA in the C.M. Newton Classic on Dec. 13. Next season is also set to feature a continuation of a three-game series against North Dakota, as well as a return to the Players Era Festival after the Crimson Tide lost the inaugural championship to Oregon in Las Vegas last season. Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for the Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@ This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Date announced for Alabama basketball vs Purdue on 2025-26 schedule
